It is December, just like that. Well played, Corona. Just kidding. The festivity is inescapable in its cheer. There is a sense of excitement in the air. And we are already making plans for Christmas. When Sushree Diya Om asked What Are You Doing This Christmas, I realised it doesn’t take much to make festivals memorable, pandemic notwithstanding. I have decided to join an incredibly thoughtful NGO, Meals of Happiness, with my kids to spread kindness. Sharing joy multiplies bliss in our own lives.

And, there are several reasons for us to feel joyful. The past month has been very eventful for us. Of course, November is the month that stands on the cusp of autumn ending, and the beginning of new adventures. It’s the month when we started a few things, many of you wrote to your heart’s content, and we read some remarkable thoughts. It is also the month of our beloved Om Swami’s birthday. No wonder then the interaction was at an all-time high, last month.

Let’s do a roundup of os.me’s November, just so you don’t miss out on the great content at your disposal. But solid stats first:

Our exclusive community wrote some phenomenal posts; 247 to be precise

These posts were written by 125 authors

One author outdid everyone else in enabling discussions on her posts. I’ll reveal the name later here, meanwhile take a guess.

The interaction on the kindest and the most truthful corner on the internet, was at a record high, too. 9200 comments were made in November alone. We really like catching up with each other.

I suspect Prakhar Sharma’s cute post, Purr-fect Lessons from a Cat, has a lot to do with all the paws-itivity. He gave the whole ‘give it your best, forget the rest’ a very paw-sitive spin. He is the fur-iend we all need (ok, I need to go easy on those puns). Roshni’s ant saga contextualises the truth we have all heard innumerable times but haven’t quite accepted it: whatever happens, happens for good. 
 
Talking of cute things, Sri Devi Om’s GuruToons are the most adorable illustrations ever. A very ingenious idea. Although, what I liked more than the graphics is the story behind. Sri, your dedication and will is inspiration. Dear readers, she has offered to make GuruToons on anecdotes we all share, do check out her post.
 
Meanwhile, I have stopped thinking much, because I fear Komal will ask me, ‘What! Were you thinking?’ She has made ‘not thinking’ legit. Thanks, for the mindfulness hack, Komal. You have a knack for serving profound techniques and wisdom in a friendly fashion.
 
I have a weakness for stories of hope and triumph, and if the protagonist is a heroine, I can read those several times over. Red is one such story, written by Viveka Goswami, Meera’s very talented daughter.
 
Both Snigdha Ganguly and Rohinee Karmarkar-Sharma are gifted writers. They are able to convey a lot in a few words. Rohinee’s Happy Birthday post was one of the first birthday posts on the website.

Just two days after, on November 30th, the platform saw unprecedented traffic. It was Swamiji’s birthday. Although he had given us a sublime return gift in advance, when he wrote the beautiful verse as the comment of his post (raise your hand if you jumped upon reading: I want you to know that you will never walk alone ever again). Several truthful personal experiences about Swamiji’s grace were written and shared by people. An unbelievable warm vibe permeated this loving corner.
 
That’s what makes us unique, we let our emotions, truth and love flow freely. We share personal experiences, we learn from our life and share our wisdom with others. Rahul Batra’s entrepreneurship lessons are going to come in handy for me, now that I have enrolled for Walk the Dragon (With all the MBA-type gyan, I am unstoppable now ;). Rahul, one has to be very wise, mindful and courageous to have charted the journey that you have.
 
If you missed enrolling for Walk the Dragon program Aditya Shahi’s Magic of Simplicity and S Misra’s post sum up key lessons from our first session well.
 
And, John Clark, thank you so much for simplifying the purpose of life . How to find one’s purpose is a hot topic. I have no doubt people will find theirs easily now. Kindness trumps everything else.  
 
There are so many exceptional writers on the platform that it’s difficult to do a roundup in one mail. I learn so much from each one of you. You all know how to look for god in small things and how to make the ultimate truth relatable through everyday situations. Your writings inspire, move and motivate.
 
Now, who is the writer who got the maximum number of comments on her post, in November? Hint: She has a way with words. Her writing is witty, thought provoking and mostly about the subject we all adore, love and worship. Got it yet? Divya Om Manoharan. Her writing has all the makings of a nice personal story: it’s told in first person voice, it tells a personal experience that everyone can relate to, it doesn’t sound like an inside joke that we are not privy to. And not because it was about Swamiji, because there are several posts about Him, yet…
 
It was exciting to have several well-written, truthful and insightful pieces to choose from for the Featured Post section. And therefore, I have decided to up our Featured Posts game. I will feature at least two posts every day, one in the morning, and one in the evening. Don’t forget to drop by everyday. When featuring a post, we do edit posts for clarity, grammar and style. We also sometimes add relevant links so as to make it more effective or searchable on the Internet so that it reaches a larger readership. It’s time to up the ante, write at least one post every week. Let’s see who takes the stats a notch higher this month.
 
Until next, tell me which is that post that has made a difference to your life?